When settlers in New England decided they were going to go out West, these pioneers didn't know what awaited them; they were going where almost no one had gone before.

Their trials and tribulations act as an inspiration for the Pioneer Brewing Company's Manifest Destiny Series, a trio of beers inspired by the "New England pioneers' arduous journey," Pioneer owner/brewer Todd Sullivan said.

"We're doing all imperials," said Sullivan. "We've done very well with them. We're setting ourselves apart from the other breweries. We made the decision to brew imperials and imperials only."

The three beers, Into the Woods, Path to the Unknown and the New Frontier, all feature a paragraph about the trip to the West, written by Sullivan's history teacher sister.

"I don't think anyone has created a story with their beers," said Sullivan. "It's really cool. It's like a history lesson."

The first beer in the series, Into the Woods, is meant to symbolize how the pioneers walked right into the woods with no idea what lay ahead of them. The beer itself is a 9 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) Vienna lager.

Sullivan said the beer is a "nice balanced lager," that's similar to an Oktoberfest, but much higher alcohol.

The second beer in the series is the Path to the Unknown, where the pioneers reached the middle part of the country and had no idea what awaited them. The beer is a 10 percent ABV double American brown ale.

The final beer in the series is the New Frontier, an 11 percent ABV double IPA. He called it a "happy, sunny IPA," to symbolize the pioneers' joy at arriving at their new home.

All of the beers are brewed at the Rapscallion Barrel and Taproom in Fiskdale, a part of Sturbridge Sullivan knows well. For 10 years, he owned Pioneer Brewing Company as a brick-and-mortar facility and contract brewed Rapscallion beers. Last year, Sullivan sold the brewery to Rapscallion, and he now brews his beers there during Rapscallion's off-hours.

"They were looking for a location and I told them I was looking for a more contract brewing situation, and they made me an offer," said Sullivan. "Somebody referred to it as 'Freaky Friday,' because we just changed roles."

Now, Sullivan is looking to relocate the Pioneer Brewing Company to Connecticut, where he lives. There, he will continue to brew the Manifest Destiny series, as well as a series of second running beers, which are made with the same ingredients used in the first batch, so they come out lower in alcohol.

Sullivan also plans to release a new Manifest Destiny beer later this year which will tell the story between the Path to the Unknown and the New Frontier.

Page 2 of 2 - The beer will be called Forge Ahead, and it will be a double saison, Sullivan said.

Email Norman Miller at nmiller@wickedlocal.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out the Beer Nut blog at blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut. Follow him on Twitter at @realbeernut. Also check out "Norman Miller, The Beer Nut" on Facebook.